Otsuka pharmaceutical oscar alcoberro interview
- 1. Oscar Alcoberro Head of HR at Otsuka Pharmaceutical, S.A Otsuka Pharmaceutical S.A is a leading global pharmaceutical company focused on creating innovative products and medical devices to address unmet medical needs. This month we caught up with Oscar Alcoberro, Head of HR at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Spain, who talks about the company¡¯s plans to grow its Spanish business through a culture promoting fun and happiness in the workplace... You only recently joined Otsuka Pharmaceutical. What is your overall remit as Head of HR? What impact do you hope to have during your first six months in the role? If HR wants to be a real business partner, it should demonstrate how to contribute to the business at its core, and not just be a support function. My role at Otsuka is to make this happen. I need to identify how far from this ideal situation we are in HR and start building bridges, with the view to changing the mindset or the organisation. This will help me to achieve a new influential position for HR in the near future. What would you describe as your biggest challenges in the role? When I joined Otsuka Pharmaceutical, the Managing Director Jordi Plaja asked me to ¡®hire the best and make them happy.¡¯ This message is fully in line with the company¡¯s broader commitment to ensure all employees recognise Otsuka as being ¡®the best professional experience in their career.¡¯ Everybody who comes into contact with Otsuka quickly realises that there is ¡®a kind of magic¡¯ which exists here. It¡¯s the sense that the organisation truly has a genuine commitment to its people. So, the biggest challenge for me is making sure that we don¡¯t lose ¡®the magic¡¯. Happiness is a business construct at Otsuka and I need to make this happiness sustainable. How much of a learning process has it been for you? What gaps (if any) are there in your own learning and development? Otsuka is a totally different proposition to anything I have experienced in the past. The company¡¯s culture really emphasises the importance of good people as being the key to its success. This model demonstrates that commitment and engagement are reflections of your people¡¯s general happiness at work. Therefore, emotional leadership is a must have skill for an Otsuka manager. I¡¯m enjoying learning about the effectiveness of employer branding and working with other employees who share the goals of the company. I¡¯ve read a lot about this but always thought it was like science fiction; not actually achievable! I do have some gaps in my own learning and development, particularly around finance, as I come from a psychology and legal background. Otsuka Pharmaceutical is still relatively small in Spain. Are there plans to grow the Spanish business? How will HR support this growth? Otsuka is a countercyclical Pharmaceutical company with an exciting pipeline ahead and we definitely want to be recognised more as a ¡®big company¡¯, rather than being perhaps negatively associated with ¡®big pharma¡¯. HR is quickly becoming a key player in shaping the future, right at the heart of the company¡¯s decision making processes. What is Otsuka Pharmaceutical currently doing to attract talent? We want to attract young talented professionals at the beginning of their careers, as well as young managers coming from big companies, perhaps seeking greater autonomy and opportunities for development. We see change in the business environment as an opportunity, rather than a crisis, and tend to attract people who are not afraid of change. For young talent starting out at Otsuka, we offer a unique opportunity to work on very dynamic and challenging projects and learn from senior members of staff, in a very open and non-hierarchical environment. For more senior people joining the business, they can be part of a very happy working environment 01 Oscar Alcoberro ? Featured interview
- 2. and enjoy collaborating with other talented people, sharing ideas in a professional way. Otsuka is becoming more attractive, day by day, because it represents something different, but also something we all would like to be part of. What impact does the culture have on productivity? We believe in fostering a culture of creativity, responsibility, flexibility and happiness to help us reach our goals in a sustainable way. In addition, powerful Japanese concepts like JISSHO (Execution) and SOZOSEI (Creativity) also run through our veins. A strong culture is basically like a centrifuge, those who fit the culture become part of its dynamic energy and those that don¡¯t are quickly pushed out by the inertia. Why should people consider working for Otsuka Pharmaceutical? Otsuka is a large, world class, Japanese multinational, introducing innovative products and new solutions for unmet diseases, to the market, where the patient is the epicentre. At the core of the company, is the belief that we can unleash people¡¯s potential and creativity. Otsuka Spain is an agile, fast and smart company, able to anticipate the future and also adapt its structure to a changing environment. Having fun is key a key pillar of our high performance model. We have a young, talented and engaged team that is determined to succeed. You should consider Otsuka if you want to experience working in a different kind of environment. Oscar Alcoberro What are the ambitions for Otsuka Pharmaceutical over the next 12 months? We are focused on the launch of a new product called Abilify Maintena later this year. It¡¯s a once-monthly, extended-release injection, designed to help prevent relapse in patients with schizophrenia. We¡¯re also getting prepared for several other new product launches, over the next few years. Our ambition is to keep bringing innovative products to the market, supporting better worldwide health. What HR trends are you most interested in at the moment? Gamification, neuromarketing, neurocompensation, happiness as a business construct and social media in HR linked to collective intelligence (I+D 2.0) initiatives. In terms of HR best practise what companies do you look to for inspiration? I¡¯m interested in companies that, like Otsuka, are focused on cultivating happiness and creativity, to generate value for the business. I don¡¯t actually believe, however, there is a great deal of innovation taking place in HR today. There is a tendency to simply replicate successful formulas from other businesses, but that doesn¡¯t always work. HR practitioners should focus more on creating something new. To do so, though, they need time to think and be creative. We cannot afford to let the urgent bury the important. Oscar Alcoberro ? Featured interview 02
- 3. You¡¯ve worked in HR for almost fifteen years now. How has the role of the HR professional changed during that time? Unfortunately, the HR role has not changed much during that time because, today, it is still rare to find an HR department directly influencing and defining business strategy. HR is probably the department with the worst internal marketing in the world, because it frequently fails to communicate the real added value of HR. Yes, HR acts more as a business partner and facilitator today, but there is still a long way to go. You¡¯re very visible on social media and also write an HR blog. Does social media have a role to play in HR? If so, how should it be used? Social media has dramatically changed the way we interact, and this has impacted on companies¡¯ internal and external communication. It has become a powerful platform for HR in terms of recruiting, flexible learning and development, collective intelligence, branding initiatives and even for networking and sharing best practices. What kind of leader are you? How do you get the most out of your teams? I am a leader focused on developing sustainable, high performance of teams. I believe in cultivating responsibility, freedom, flexibility, involvement, active listening, recognition, sense of humour and a clear matrix of roles and responsibilities. I really believe that happiness, in a healthy environment, is the key for having sustainable results in the long term. What keeps you interested outside of work? I like reading about technical issues such as law, psychology, genetics, business, and high-tech developments and so on, as well as writing and social media. Being around friends and family is also important; my two small children help me understand the real sense of Life. About Otsuka Pharmaceutical Otsuka Pharmaceutical was established in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan in 1964. At Otsuka Pharmaceutical, we are committed to a holistic approach to health and well-being of people and are striving to create innovative, thoroughly-original: pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products based on our corporate philosophy ¡°Otsuka-people creating new products for better health worldwide¡±. Analogous to riding on a bicycle, we drive on two wheels. 03 Oscar Alcoberro ? Featured interview